AUGUST 1, 2000

Toyota continues to recruit new men

THE Toyota Formula 1 team in Cologne, Germany, is in the process of hiring new people for its planned team, which is due to enter Formula 1 in 2002. The team is in discussions with Sauber driver Mika Salo and hopes to convince the Finn to take a year out of racing to test next year before becoming Toyota team leader in 2002. If that plan fails Toyota will have test driver Allan McNish but it would prefer a topline F1 driver such as Salo.

There are increasing rumors that a group of engineers and managers from a rival F1 team will move to Cologne at the end of the year to form the core of the Toyota F1 race team. It is unclear whether this group will include any design staff but there is no doubt that it will include some men with experience in specialist areas such as hydraulics and electronics. There are, as yet, no indications as to which team is involved but as it is unlikely that a group of people would move from a successful operation it is expected to be one of the teams further down the grid.

Toyota continues to recruit engine men, the most recent new employee being Japanese engineer Norio Aoki, who has spent the last couple of years working for Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows Engines company. This operation has effectively been closed down in recent months with the staff being laid off. Aoki was previously involved in the Yamaha F1 program between 1991 and 1997.